CPU vs. GPU?

JakeMM

I'm currently running a Macbook Pro Late 2013 2.4 dual core, with 8gb Ram. Whenever I produce renders (using Twilight), I let it crunch overnight and so I'm happy with the current CPU performance in that regard.

Lately however, I've been reaching a point where my models contain a very large number of plants/trees and this has slowed my modelling time down considerably.

I'm looking to improve how quickly and smoothly Sketchup can orbit around large models, and how quickly Layout can render everything in Vector/Hybrid mode.

My Macbook uses integrated Intel Iris graphics.

Am I pushing the limit of my current CPU or GPU?

I've recently discovered that you can buy something to run any desktop GPU from a laptop, which I can use in my office where I "dock" my Macbook.

I've watched some Youtube videos in which people have managed to improve the FPS of video games by 9x on the same Macbook as mine, when compared to the integrated GPU. I'm not sure how much Sketchup uses the CPU vs. the GPU though..?

Any advice would be a greatly appreciated!

Dave R

@jakemm said:

Lately however, I've been reaching a point where my models contain a very large number of plants/trees and this has slowed my modelling time down considerably.

I'm looking to improve how quickly and smoothly Sketchup can orbit around large models, and how quickly Layout can render everything in Vector/Hybrid mode.

I'll let someone else answer your questions about rendering and such but the above caught my eye. Are you still using SketchUp 8 (and LayOut 3) as your profile indicates? If you are, I doubt there's much if anything you can do with hardware to speed up orbiting in SketchUp and rendering in LayOut. Recent versions of SketchUp and LayOut are much faster as far as those things go due to changes they made to optimize rendering in both applications. Besides, there are some things in SU8 that no longer work like getting location imagery and accessing the 3D Warehouse. You might upgrade SketchUp first and then reassess your hardware needs.

JakeMM

Thanks for the reply. I'll just update my profile!

I'm currently using Layout 2014, and a mixture between Sketchup Pro 2014, and Sketchup Make 2016 (for heavier models). I'll be upgrading to 2016 Pro soon though, as I believe 2015 onwards was 64bit, and so hopefully that will help to unlock some speed in Layout.

Dave R

64-bit doesn't necessarily mean faster.

How about updating your profile?